Animal Writings

In Meat Market, by Erik Marcus, Antonia Demas, PhD writes that as a volunteer at a Head Start center in the 1970s, she was able to improve the food served at the facility by "working with students to introduce nutritious vegetarian foods in a way that was fun, hands-on, and sensory-based...The results were remarkable. Students devoured foods their parents swore they would never touch, and they even requested these items at home."

Dr. Demas reports that using these interactive and interest-generating methods, she has since had success at introducing healthy cuisine at many schools throughout the country.

She goes on to say that "My PhD dissertation at Cornell University [completed after working for 20 years in food education] clearly demonstrated that students will consume healthful, plant-based foods—if only they receive the right instruction...Students who receive this education usually bring the message home and have a positive impact on their families' eating behaviors."

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Dr. Dumas is founder and president of the Food Studies Institute (FSI), and works with "schools, non-profit organizations, vegetarian societies, and corporations" nationwide. FSI has developed a "Food is Elementary" curriculum that teaches children about "food, nutrition, culture, and healthy living." According to FSI's web site, documented results of the program include:

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Further thoughts:

I suspect that most parents (and probably schoolteachers) send a message to kids that vegetables are a chore and vegetarian meals are second-class. This sets up a self-fulfilling prophecy. Parents, and eventually their children, put very little creativity into cooking vegetables and thus relegate these cancer-, diabetes- and heart disease-fighters to drab-looking also-rans on the margins of the plate. This defeatist attitude and lack of effort in cooking and presenting vegetables and taking advantage of their diversity and versatility perpetuates unhealthy eating habits such as relying too much on protein and fat.

But learning how to base one's diet on healthy and ethical food can be such a life-affirming, far-reaching, empowering experience. There is no reason why the myriad fruits, vegetables, herbs, and seeds of the earth have to be treated as though they were a tedious chore. It should be no surprise that students eagerly adopt healthful eating habits when they're taught them in an engaging, informative, and positive manner.

I'm indebted to anyone who helps young people veer away from diets that are destructive to animals, the earth, and ourselves. The examples in the last two posts, and many others, show—contrary to popular opinion—that the children of meat-eaters will embrace plant-based options if they're good-tasting, diverse, and presented positively. Because early eating preferences often influence lifelong dietary patterns, the possible ramifications of even a small shift in children's eating habits could be huge. I suppose "children are our future" is not always an empty phrase. In so many ways, children do represent the earth's future; every being on the planet may be affected by their choices.

[In future posts: Additional culinary activism ideas.]

Labels: Antonia Demas, Food Studies Institute, Meat Market, school food